Catholic Marriage Preparation

The Catholic Wisdom — Why the Catechism Is Our Coaching Playbook What Is the Catechism? The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Second Edition, 1997) is the Church’s official summary of what Catholics believe, celebrate, live, and pray — 2,865 numbered paragraphs covering the full range of Christian doctrine. It’s not a rule book. It’s a map of what it means to be human, and what it means to love. Why It Matters for Dating and Marriage Most men I talk to never cracked the Catechism open. They got bits of Catholic teaching in school or CCD, maybe some wedding prep, and that was it. That’s a problem — because the Church has been thinking about human love for two thousand years, and most of that thinking never made it into your CCD class. When a guy is stuck in a pattern of dead-end relationships or can’t figure out why nothing seems to work, the Catechism usually has a direct answer. Not because it moralizes at you. Because it’s accurate about what we are and how we got wounded. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — JP2’s Blueprint for the Christian Family What Is Familiaris Consortio? Familiaris Consortio (“On the Family”) is an Apostolic Exhortation written by Pope John Paul II and promulgated on November 22, 1981. Its 86 paragraphs emerged from the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the family, shaped by bishops from around the world. It addresses conjugal love, responsible parenthood, the education of children, and the family’s role in both the Church and society. ...

The Catholic Wisdom — Pope Francis on the Joy (and Mess) of Love What Is Amoris Laetitia? Amoris Laetitia (“The Joy of Love”) is a post-synodal apostolic exhortation issued by Pope Francis on March 19, 2016, the Feast of St. Joseph. It emerged from two Synods on the Family held in 2014 and 2015, and it covers marriage preparation, ongoing accompaniment of couples, pastoral care for irregular situations, and the spirituality of family life. At 325 paragraphs, it is the longest document the Church has produced on love, marriage, and family. ...